The Coronation of Edward VII (), also released as Reproduction, Coronation Ceremonies, King Edward VII and as Coronation of King Edward, is a 1902 short silent film directed by Georges Méliès and produced by Charles Urban. The film is a staged simulation of the coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, produced in advance of the actual coronation for release on the same day. Urban, after a failed attempt to obtain permission to film the actual ceremony, commissioned Méliès to direct the simulated version. The film, staged outdoors on a painted set, was planned as a realistic (albeit highly condensed) reproduction of the coronation; Urban procured various research details in England, while Méliès, at his French studio, cast his actors based on their resemblances to the real-life dignitaries at the ceremony. The film was completed on time for the coronation; when Edward fell ill, both the actual event and the release of the film were postponed. The film premiered on Coronation Day to great popular success in Britain and elsewhere, although at least one journalist sharply criticized Urban and Méliès for faking the ceremony. King Edward himself was reportedly delighted with the film, and it remains one of Méliès' most well-received works. Summary Edward VII and Alexandra of Denmark process into Westminster Abbey, where the king is administered the coronation oath and presented with a Bible to kiss. The king is anointed and crowned on King Edward's Chair by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Frederick Temple. The king and queen sit on thrones as all assembled pay their homage. Background The reigning monarch of the United Kingdom, Queen Victoria, died on 22 January 1901, at which point her eldest son, Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, became King Edward VII. The coronation ceremony for Edward and his wife Alexandra, whom he had married in 1863, was scheduled for 26 June 1902. The French filmmaker Méliès had already achieved acclaim with his innovative films Cinderella (1899) and Joan of Arc (1900), and in the summer of 1902 he was completing work on what would become his biggest success, the internationally popular A Trip to the Moon (1902). He had already filmed various "reconstructed newsreels," staged re-enactments of current events, and the year 1902 marked his three last works in the genre: The Eruption of Mount Pelee, The Catastrophe of the Balloon "Le Pax", and the last and most complex of all, The